Alabama debuts at number one in the first Crystal Ball Run power rankings. Photo: USA Today Sports
With the month of October officially here, the Crystal Ball Run staff is introducing a new weekly feature to the site with our official power rankings. Each week our staff will submit our top ten ballots and the numbers will be crunched to determine our official top ten. A new power ranking will be released every Monday moving forward through the rest of the college football regular season, including championship game weekend.
1. Alabama (4 first place votes)
The Crystal Ball Run panel is firm in believing Alabama is one of the top teams in the country. The Crimson Tide received four first-place votes and was ranked second on the remaining votes this week. Alabama likely owns the best win of the season with the road win at Texas A&M and is coming off a shutout of Ole Miss.
2. Oregon (2)
Oregon grabbed two first-place votes. The Ducks offense continues to impress, of course, and Oregon may be the team to beat in a Pac 12 conference that has gained more national respect as other programs continue to improve.
3. Clemson
The Clemson Tigers come in third in our initial batch of power rankings. The season opening win against Georgia got them on the right track and they have been rather impressive since then as well. Clemson had no problem with Wake Forest this past weekend.
4. Stanford (1)
Stanford picked up the last remaining first-place vote in this week's power rankings, but found themselves down the ballots of a few voters to hold them back behind the ACC's Clemson. Stanford went on the road and pulled away in a dominating win at Washington State last weekend.
5. Ohio State
The Buckeyes scored a big win against Wisconsin last weekend, making Ohio State the front runner for the Big Ten Leaders Division. Ohio State heads to Northwestern this weekend, looking to avoid an upset by the Wildcats.
6. Georgia
Georgia has scored two significant SEC victories over South Carolina and LSU, needing to win a shootout-style game in each. Are there concerns about the defense, or do the Bulldogs get a pass for getting the job done since losing the opener at Clemson?
7. LSU
LSU could very well move up our rankings as the season moves on. Their loss at Georgia really could have gone either way. Games against Texas A&M and Alabama should be very entertaining later on this fall.
8. Texas A&M
Texas A&M may have the best offense in the SEC, especially with Johnny Manziel continuing to just make plays. The Aggies are already a game back of Alabama but most teams will have a difficult time slowing down the Aggies.
9. Louisville
Louisville was off this past week but moves forward this weekend with a road game at Temple. Louisville's schedule is not going to impress most, which means the Central Florida game may be the highlight of the season. Louisville and Washington tied for total points in this week's voting, but the Cardinals appeared on more ballots to settle the tiebreaker.
10. Washington
Washington is off to a 4-0 start this season and they are playing well on both sides of the football. Washington blew out Boise State in the season opener and is coming off a win against previously undefeated Arizona. They may not be at the level of Oregon or Stanford, but the Huskies are legit.
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